Am planning on doing this recipe in September for a holiday time consumption. I emailed this to a fellow brewer here in town that recommended changing the brown malt to black malt and adjusting otherwise for color. He didn’t expand on the topic so I am asking you for your opinion. Thanks. (5 gallon batch size)
BOURBON VANILLA IMPERIAL PORTER
11.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America
1.50 lbs. Brown Malt Great Britain
0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L America
2.50 lbs. Munich Malt (Durst) Germany
1.00 lbs. Crystal 120L America
1.25 lbs. Chocolate Malt America
I recommend trying the recipe as it was originally formulated. Then if you find that you want to tweak it a bit you can make adjustments at that point. I like the recipe as originally made. The only thing I changed was the brand of bourbon added. I use Knob Creek but the bourbon is a subtle flavor so it really doesn’t make much difference.
65.8 13.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
7.6 1.50 lbs. Brown Malt Great Britain 1.032 70
12.7 2.50 lbs. Munich Malt Germany 1.037 8
5.1 1.00 lbs. Crystal 105L Great Britain 1.033 105
2.5 0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L America 1.034 40
6.3 1.25 lbs. Chocolate Malt America 1.029 350
Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.
Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
1.00 oz. Magnum Whole 14.00 44.6 60 min.
0.50 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 4.75 1.5 10 min.
Extras
Amount Name Type Time
1.00 Tsp Irish Moss Fining 15 Min.(boil)
Yeast
WYeast 1056 Amercan Ale/Chico or Wyeast 1450
Notes
After primary, slit open 2 vanilla beans. Scrape the insides, chop the pods
into quarters, add to secondary fermenter, rack beer onto vanilla. Taste p
eriodically for the correct balance. I left the beer in secondary for 11 da
ys. Rack to bottling bucket and add 10 ml. per pint of Jim Beam Black Bourb
on (or to your taste). Bottle, enjoy!
Thanks Gentlemen. I appreciate the input. Recommendation comes from a good brewer but someone who just told me that there were no good brews at this weekend’s Bend Brewfest.BEND BREWFEST | Bend Concerts
Denny, truly appreciate your input. Listened to your interview on the Brewing Network (2006). Wonderful.
I will reread the recipe and may find the need to repost a question or two.
I brew like I cook. Follow a recipe exactly the first time. Then start tweaking to my taste after that. Until I make the first batch I have no clue what I may or may not like about it.
Yes and yes…kinda. I’ve used Pacman and I don’t think it worked as well as 1450. Not a big deal, but noticeable to me. I’ve had several oaked versions made by other people and didn’t really feel it added a lot. Do what you want, but I’m curious why you’re so hell bent to change things without even trying it as is first.
Not hell bent Denny, I read several versions and given different advice (such as several versions with different yeast, the one guys telling me to ditch the brown malt etc). I appreciate this forum and the opportunity to question what I am being advised. I will be going with your recipe as stated above.
Tell the guy that if you ditch the brown malt, you make a completely different beer! Nothing wrong with making changes, but make them after you try it the “original” way first. Then you;ll have a baseline for what you might want to change.
I prefer 1450 and more recent versions of the recipe list that. when I first developed the recipe, 1450 wasn’t around and I used 1056. Thanks for asking!
Probably the only thing you really need to worry about, with the amount of dark roasted malts, is that the pH of your mash doesn’t drop too low. Very soft water would allow that to happen more easily. Just mash-in, measure the pH, and adjust if necessary (Chalk or, preferably Pickling Lime to raise the pH).